A total of £380,000 has been allocated to mental health projects in Leeds thanks to backing from a charity fund.

Schemes that will receive the cash – donated by Asda Foundation and distributed by the Leeds Community Foundation (LCF) – will include counselling, services that help with after-effects of domestic violence and support for older people with mental health issues.

At the end of last year LCF only expected to be able to fund six projects from its Leeds Fund pot of money but that number has now increased to 22.

During the project’s launch yesterday, Pip Goff, LCF’s programmes manager, said: “Mental health is massive for Leeds as a city. Loneliness and isolation is increasingly an issue. Mental health affects people of all ages and it underpins everything we do.”

She said it was “unprecedented” for the organisation to be able to fund so many projects.

LCF chief executive Sally-Anne Greenfield said: “The Leeds Fund is committed to raising awareness and money to support community projects across Leeds that provide vital services to local people living with mental health issues.

“Thanks to Asda Foundation’s generous donation, we have been able to award large grants of up to £25,000 to even more projects.”

The projects were developed by people with experience of mental health issues and the community groups that work with them. Asda Foundation deputy chairman John Cookman said: “When we heard that the Leeds Fund had been overwhelmed by applications from community projects needing support to deliver mental health support services, we wanted to help more projects receive the funding they need.

“It has been great to meet with the groups and hear more about the fantastic work they are doing to support local people. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects and are delighted we have been able to help.”

THE YEP officially kicked off our #SpeakYourMind mental health campaign in October

2016.

As part of the campaign, we are calling on businesses, organisations and individuals in Leeds to help combat the damaging social stigma that still surrounds mental health issues. People can pledge their support for the campaign by using the hashtag #SpeakYourMind on Twitter, Facebook and social media websites.

Send your stories to yep.newsdesk@ypn.co.uk

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